


Forward Momentum

by NerdyPanda3126



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Ice Skating, POV Kagami Tsurugi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27957551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdyPanda3126/pseuds/NerdyPanda3126
Summary: Kagami returns to the ice rink with Luka, but she might've gotten a few signals crossed.“This was a date?”He shrugged. “Doesn’t have to be. We can leave if you still think it’s a waste of time.”“You asked me on a date.”A nod and an easy, amused smile. “You did say yes.”
Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 10
Kudos: 44





	Forward Momentum

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mizu4TheWin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mizu4TheWin/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Mizu4TheWin!!
> 
> Thank you so much for being such a great fandom friend! Half of my works would never have gotten posted without your ~~enabling~~ encouragement :)

Kagami adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she walked with Luka to the ice rink. She’d offered the car, of course, but he’d just shrugged and given her that infuriatingly tepid smile of his and said he preferred walking. He didn’t even bring any gear with him. What could he possibly expect to learn from her on rentals? 

“I don’t know why you asked me to come with you,” she said with a huff as they approached the rink. “I only skate for fun.” 

He smiled again as he opened the door for her. “I know.” 

She hesitated before she walked past him. “And you’re already a good enough skater. This is a waste of time.” 

He hummed in response, still smiling, and walked over to rent his skates. She rolled her eyes and thunked her bag into a seat to start getting her pads and skates pulled on. 

When he loped over to her, battered rental skates and sweaty used pads in hand, he sat in the seat next to her with his shoulder barely touching hers. She shifted subtly away from him when she leaned down to tie her laces. 

“If it’s a waste of time, why did you agree to come?” he asked, his voice calm and musical. She looked over at him and he was watching her with that same stupid placid smile on his face. 

She sat back up and crossed one knee over the other to look at him. He avoided her scrutiny by bending down to lace his own skates. He was… pleasing to look at, she had to admit. Her mother would never approve of him, with his dyed hair and ripped jeans and black nails. Not that it mattered if her mother approved of him. That was kind of the point, if she was being honest. If her mother found out she was here with him—even if it was only to give him lessons—instead of with Marinette like she’d claimed, heads would roll. 

“You’re bad for my image,” she answered him finally. 

He paused in his movements and glanced sideways at her, but said nothing. For some reason, when he straightened up and his shoulder brushed against hers again, her heart did a funny little flip. She stood abruptly. 

“What were you wanting to learn today?” 

He stood with her and tugged his elbow pads on. Somehow he managed to shrug in the same movement. 

She  _ hated  _ it when he shrugged. So noncommittal. His lack of focus, of drive, was evident when he shrugged. He was a leaf floating along a fast-moving river, content to go wherever it took him. Did that make her the river? She shook her head. Poetry. Not her forte. 

Fine. She knew his level from the last time they came here. He could skate well, both forwards and backwards, and he knew how to turn and execute lifts. All of that was useful, but jumps would set him apart in a competition. 

Toe loop. That’s where she’d start. Simple to learn, and a good building block. 

“Okay, watch me first, and then we’ll have you try when you think you’ve got it.” 

He nodded in response and leaned against the half wall that separated the rink from the seating area. She got onto the ice and skated away to build up some speed before she dug her left toe pick in and threw herself into the leap, landing cleanly on one skate. She turned her head to look at him and he was watching her, and for some reason his smile made her wobble as her momentum petered out. She braked hard to cover it, spewing up bits of ice behind her, and crossed her arms. 

“Did you get that?” 

“Not really,” he admitted, “could you show me again?” 

With a huff, she skated away and leapt again. This time when she turned back, she caught him hiding a chuckle behind his hand. 

“One more time,” he said, the laugh still lingering when he noticed her watching him. “I didn’t quite catch it.” 

With a groan, she skated over and pulled him onto the ice by his pleasantly warm hand. 

“There.” She positioned him so he was close enough to see her footwork clearly, but with enough space still for her to jump. “Now watch me.” 

“Sure thing.” 

She blinked back at him before she skated away from him as fast as she could. There was something about the way he’d said that. Her heart was doing that funny flip-flutter thing again. 

As she pushed off for her jump, she wasn’t focused—thinking more about his soft smile than her trajectory—and she was off-balance. She wasn’t going to stick the landing. In the short half-second she was in the air, she considered if it was worth twisting her ankle to try to land or if she should take the fall. 

But his skates were scraping against the ice towards her, and his arms were underneath her and she fell directly into them. He paused and gave her that smile—that infuriating, soft, easy smile—before he tipped her back up to set her on her feet. She felt more than heard him chuckling again. 

“What is so funny?” It came out harsher than she intended and she pushed off him to stand a small distance away. 

Another shrug. Her quick temper was starting to flare. 

“You bring me out here to teach you, you don’t even pay attention when I’m demonstrating, and then you laugh at me when I fall!  _ What  _ is so funny?” 

His eyes literally sparkled as they caught a reflection from the ice. He skated away and executed a perfect toe loop before he shoved his hands in his pockets and let his momentum carry him back to her. She shut her mouth and glared. 

“Why didn’t you say something?” 

“You thought I asked you here to teach me. I didn’t think it’d be right to correct you.” 

She blinked at him. That made no sense. She thought back to his question. It had been a soft-spoken,  _ “You’re a really good skater, Kagami. Would you want to go skating again with me sometime?”  _

He’d admired her skating. He’d asked her to come with him. What other reason was there for him to ask her? 

“It’s okay,” he said in that gentle way of his, “I think it’s kinda cute.” 

Her attention snapped back to him. He was smiling. He was looking right at her. He’d called her cute. He had asked her here and come with her alone. Those were all the conventions of—

“This was a date?” 

He shrugged. “Doesn’t have to be. We can leave if you still think it’s a waste of time.” 

“You asked me on a date.” 

A nod and an easy, amused smile. “You did say yes.” 

She looked him over again, considering. If her mother  _ ever  _ found out she’d been on a date with him. He slouched. He shrugged. He stood with his hands in his pockets. He liked rock-’n-roll music. He delivered pizzas. Nothing about him was a match for her. 

But her heart was still fluttering in her chest as his blue eyes met hers evenly. Was he really a leaf floating lazily on the river? He had managed to sweep her away without her realizing it.

“I did,” she finally managed to say. His gentle, easy smile grew and he pulled a hand out of his pocket to hold it out for her. 

As she let him pull her into a slow loop around the rink, she admired his graceful lope, even on skates. He matched his stride to hers even though he had longer legs and could easily go faster. Just as she was starting to think that it might be interesting to race him—his long strides versus her powerful ones—he turned to skate backwards and face her. 

“Was it that much of a surprise that I asked you out?” He was smirking now; she could tell from the little upturn at the side of his lips. 

“I wasn’t expecting it from you,” she answered. “We don’t have anything in common.” 

“We both skate for fun.” How did he shrug while skating backwards and holding her hands? Was he in a perpetual state of shrugging? “That’s something.” 

“Arguably so.” 

He laughed, but not at her. She had made him laugh. He thought she was cute. She liked the feeling it gave her. Like she’d just had a cup of hot tea and the warmth was spreading through her chest. 

Without warning, he dropped her hands and pulled away from her. He raised his eyebrows before he turned and shot in the other direction. 

“Hey, wait!” She poured on speed and followed after him. He had the  _ audacity  _ to turn mid-stride and laugh. 

“Surprise you again? Come on, keep up!” He turned back around and slid through the turn, angling his body like a speed skater. She followed him, but he was gaining ground as he hit the straightaway again. Those long strides were working to his advantage. But she could catch him. 

She grinned as she got close enough to reach out and grab the back of his jacket. She used his momentum to pull herself forward, but he grabbed her hand at the last second and they both spun out and into the wall, laughing. 

“You… cheated.” She panted, although she was exhilarated. She leaned into him to catch her breath. 

“You won,” he said, still laughing. 

“No, I didn’t, because it wasn’t a real race.” 

“Wanna go again?” 

She paused and looked at him. He was still matching her stride, in his way. He’d noticed she was bored with skating in a slow circle and had decided to race her because he thought she’d like it. And she did. She was having _fun_ with him. More fun than she’d ever had ice skating. Her grin spread across her face, answering his. 

“You’re on.”


End file.
